Non-Orthodox groups have reacted angrily to Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar’s comments about them in an interview given to the Makor Rishon newspaper ahead of Rosh Hashanah.
Asked whether it would be better for a secular Jew who happened to be away from home on Rosh Hashanah to pray with a Reform congregation or by himself in a hotel, Amar said it would be preferable to pray by himself.
Religion and State Index shows 71% of Israelis believe greatest tension in Israeli society is between seculars and haredim – because of IDF draft, exclusion of women and status quo.
A year has gone by, a new Jewish year is upon us, and the tensions between secular and ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel are intensifying.
The Israeli public this year engaged in two major issues related to the interface between these two sectors: The exclusion of women in public spaces, and the haredi draft issue.
Suspected right-wing extremists vandalised the Latrun Monastery outside Jerusalem early on Tuesday morning, in the first “price tag” attack following the evacuation of Migron on Sunday.
The vandals spray painted “Jesus is a monkey” and the words “mutual responsibility” along with the names of illegal outposts Upper Migron and Maoz Esther, in large orange letters on the outside of the monastery. They also burned the wooden door at the monastery entrance.
